Here's something I never thought I'd say: I could live on cod roe. I don't know what it is, but minced on brown toast, there's nothing like it. In the summer we stay in our family caravan in Eastbourne and what with the boat, we catch all our own food. It's all crab on toast for breakfast, fresh mackerel for lunch, lobsters if we're lucky, and the roe.

Food has changed a lot since I was little. My mum was Irish and a plain cook. We were weaned on boiled bacon in milk and onion with black pudding or tripe. I still cook that sort of thing for the family. I have to know where my food's come from and since we've got space, once a year I get a pig from Orchard Farm up the road, and a lamb from a friend, all cut up. They tell me what they've fed them on and we'll freeze them in the garage. That'll see us through the winter. I love a hogget, too – don't ask me why though, it's just the taste. My pride and joy though are the eight layers and our cockerel. I know what they're eating so I know what's in their eggs. He doesn't do much except wake us up, though, bless his heart.

I try to get food into my books. It's great fun. I had one character who used to go on about her fantasy dinner parties. That was pretty easy to get my head around. I usually write through the night. One minute, I'll be making myself a black coffee at 3am and the next thing I'll be popping a nice cut of beef into the Aga. When my housekeeper, Mrs Broomfield, arrives in the morning and smells roast meat she thinks I've gone mad.

I grow my own vegetables. It's a big year for us as we're re-stocking the orchard: more apples, plums, quince and cobnuts. I love cobnuts. I swap veg with my neighbour. Every week he gets my courgettes, I get his lettuce, that sort of thing.

I don't think I'm particularly healthy. I put too much cream into my special leek and potato mash and I love a fry-up for breakfast, especially when the family has sent us white pudding from Ireland. For lunch I love a winter salad. We're mad about endive in this house. Endive with blue cheese and a balsamic reduction. Superb. Dinner is usually something meaty with a glass of wine. In the winter I'm a wild meat-one-pot person.

I do love baking. I make a lovely hot-water crust, but the trick is everything in moderation. You can only eat so much pastry anyway. My daughter-in-law is Polish. Over there, they eat dessert first. Imagine that? I'm in my element, mind.

Cobnuts

Nuts are a supremely nutritious food, and eating them is associated with a reduced risk of the chronic conditions heart disease and diabetes. Also, nuts have generally good appetite-sating potential, which makes then an ideal between-meal snack.

Wild rabbit

I rate meat highly as a food, but the more intensively farmed it is, the worse it tends to be for us (and the animal, of course). Wild game is a great choice nutritionally, and typical of what is, on the whole, a really wonderful basketful of food.

Lobster

Lobster is usually not recommended as a foodstuff on account of its high cholesterol content. I wouldn't worry about that though, seeing as how much cholesterol we consume has little or no impact on cholesterol levels in the bloodstream, and taking dietary steps to reduce cholesterol does not appear to save lives anyway. Another fine 'primal' food.

White and black pudding

These foods won't usually appear on any 'most wanted' list from a nutritional perspective, but on the whole they are made from quite unprocessed and wholesome ingredients. Other than perhaps being a tad too salty, I think such fare makes a decent accompaniment to an occasional fried breakfast.

Leek and potato mash

Mashed potato is generally disruptive to blood sugar levels in a way that appears to predispose to problems such as weight gain, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. However, the speed of sugar release will be dampened by the addition of cream and leek. Having it alongside some meat or fish will also help here, especially if accompanied by another vegetable such as cabbage or broccoli.

Endives

I see vegetables that are not particularly disruptive to blood sugar levels as a key component in a healthy diet, and endives are no exception here. Along with the other vegetables she enjoys, these help to ensure nutritional balance in Martina's very wholesome diet.

Cod roe

Cod roe is rich in protein and B vitamins and represents, in my view, one of the healthier toppings to be had on toast. This is another example of Martina's apparent ability to naturally gravitate to real, truly healthy food.

Hogget

Lamb is a meat that some have been warned off due to its fatty nature. However, there really is no good evidence that saturated fat causes heart disease, and besides, about half the fat in lamb is 'heart-healthy' monounsaturated in nature. Another good choice, I think.

Mackerel

Most people will know by now that mackerel is especially rich in the omega-3 fats that have been linked with benefits for both body and brain. Another fabulous food found in the Cole basket.

After a year of scandal in his personal life and financial woes in his business empire, Gordon Ramsay looks back with some regret – and some anger – and looks forward to his latest British restaurant opening